Our new life in Cyprus began in early March 2004. Originally from a small mill town in Heywood, Lancashire (United Kingdom) we moved overseas spending a glorious 12 years in Limassol. Feel free to read my posts and view my many #photosofCyprus. However in 2016 we had to return permanently to UK due to family ill health. We're now living on the Fylde coast where the river Wyre meets the Irish sea in the north west of England. More places for us to discover as this part of the UK is not so familiar to us either.

23,400+ people cannot be wrong. End the Songbird Slaughter in Cyprus now!

Hundreds of thousands of little birds are killed as they migrate through Cyprus every year. They are destined to become a very expensive restaurant delicacy.

End Songbird Slaughter in Cyprus

Trappers use completely unselective methods, including mist nets, which trap every flying animal that goes past. Although blackcaps are the main target, over 150 different bird species are caught, of which about 80 are endangered. Species trapped include robins, shrikes and the colourful little bee eaters pictured.

Songbirds already face a multitude of problems, ranging from habitat destruction to their populations being ravaged by domestic and feral cats. The last thing they need is wholesale slaughter to become a luxury dish.

The slaughter is also illegal, but the authorities appear to turn a blind eye. Ask the Cyprus government to get serious about looking after the environment and enforcing their own laws.

I'm "Shell" or Michele - formerly a UK Expat living in Cyprus since March 2004. Sadly, we had to return to UK in April 2016 due to family illness. We now live "over Wyre" where the "River meets the Sea" at Knott End on Sea, Fylde coast, Lancashire.
If you like my photos, you can see more of them on Flickr (Thulborn-Chapman Photography): http://www.flickr.com/photos/cypruspictures/albums/ and don't forget to check me out on Twitter too - you can find me: @CyprusPictures aka Fylde Coast Musings
Enjoy!

6 thoughts on “23,400+ people cannot be wrong. End the Songbird Slaughter in Cyprus now!”

I wish, Andrew!
Sadly though, the word “hunting” doesn’t really have a specific meaning here in Cyprus. Shooting anything that moves usually means a hunter or two will get shot or killed at the beginning of each hunting season – all in the name of sport. However, for these little birds there would be nothing left if they shot them so they resort to the use of lime sticks which is torture for them. It’s actually illegal but it still continues so asking them to stop eating them too is unlikely to be on the agenda and certainly will not be reasoned with.

Thanks for reading my post and for your reply.
I’m interested to know if the practice of killing these tiny songbirds for food takes place in the North of the island also. Perhaps you can enlighten me as this is an area that you promote?